Betrayer of the Void
by Touhoufanatic
Summary: Sibling story to emissary. after a failed suicide attempt louse finds herself on a world not her own and is saved by a creature she has never seen before. now she will work for the good of her species as a whole, whether it wants her help or not!
1. Prologue

_Authors forward: as promised both betrayer and border are posted together, though border shall likely not update nearly as fast._

_Now I just want to make this clear right now, betrayer was stated to be similar to emissary, but it is similar in only the aspect of Louise committing suicide. All alterations I had made in emissary to characters, canon plotlines, character backgrounds, and the world do NOT cross over to this story. Also I know full well that Louise's parents are not assholes, but in this they will be portrayed as such. Now I hope you all enjoy the first chapter of betrayer of the void!_

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Louise woke up to find herself face down on the cold dirt, her body bruised but unbroken. Only after she had jumped from her window did she realize that a second story window's height would not have been enough to kill her. But it still hurt like heck.

She pulled herself up to get a grasp of her surroundings, and quickly found she was not where she expected herself to be.

The ground beneath her was a dark brown and had no grass or plant of any kind and everywhere she looked the land looked the same, bleak, barren and lifeless. The sky looked as dead as the land, with bleak grey clouds swirling above her. She had never heard of such an environment before, where exactly was she?

Her senses were suddenly grabbed by a loud series of noises she did not recognize. She slid over to a large nearby rock and found herself on the edge of a tall cliff. She also found where the odd noises where coming. Down below her, at the bottom of the near perfectly vertical cliff face were two large groups of people who appeared to be fighting each other. One side wore deep green and yellow armor, the likes of which she had never seen. They seemed to be fighting alongside monstrously large yellow objects that seemed to be made of metal, and unleashed deafening howls that caused the opposing group to explode. That group wore armor that was deep black with red trim and looked equally odd. They seemed to be fighting alongside similarly strange metal objects that also unleashes howls of explosions, though they were smaller and sleeker in both size and shape.

She continued to watch the two groups kill each other and quickly came to realize that the weapons the people were using seemed like overly large flintlocks that fired faster than she could fathom. Just who were these people? And what where they fighting about?

As she thought this she saw a third group of strange creatures join the fray. Following large silver clouds, almost a dozen large purple creatures trudged into the fray, propelled by their three large spiked legs. The creatures had three large tendrils atop them that let loose beams of glowing energy that burned through anything they touched. As soon as this third group joined the fray, the battle turned into a slaughter.

"**Carbon based organic, you do not belong of this world. How are you here and for what purpose?" **

Louise tensed up as she heard the strange high pitched but low toned screeching voice all around her, like in the back of her mind. She swallowed as she slowly turned around, and almost had a heart attack as she saw what stood before her. Standing as tall as her father was a creator colored the same as the ones below the cliff. It stood atop four thin legs and had a large almost blob like body with a glowing eye in the lower center of its body. Its skin seemed to change color and texture slightly as it stood before her, and it had two odd shaped spikes coming out of the back section of its body. The sight of it cuased her to fall backwards in panic.

" I er, organ? Um I don't, but where? What?"

The creature's body bobbed as if sighing to itself.

"**You need not worry for your life organic. I speak to you for reasons beyond destruction. Please calm yourself that you may answer this one's question intelligently."**

Louise took many deep breaths and finally stilled her panicking heart. "Um, sorry. What are you? And what did you mean by Cobra based organic?"

"**I said carbon based organic, not Cobra. This one is Saw'veleesh, Prodigy of Traveler-59's thirteenth foreman. May I ask your designation, creature?"**

Louise shook her head. She was surprised at the creatures eloquent and calm speech, it made her feel safer, despite its nonhuman appearance. "M- My name is Louise de la Vallière, third child of the Vallière family of Tristania. Um-"

"**A good designation, though to this one it is meaningless, likely the same for you as well. May I request why you are here on a world not your own?"**

"I, well, I kind of jumped out of a window, and the next thing I knew I was here." Louise admitted with embarrassment over her lack of understanding of her own situation.

"**I see. Information obtained coincides with small scale vibration scan data in the area, I was sent to investigate. Coincidence is unlikely. Allow me a moment." **Saw'veleesh said as he turned around and looked away from Louise.

Louise looked on as the two spikes coming off the creatures back began to glow a vibrant blue. Despite the creature's monstrous appearance, it seemed to be highly intelligent and respectful of her, despite her reactions to it. It made her feel kind of guilty about it.

Saw'veleesh turned around and walked over to the edge of the cliff, as if looking down at the battle below. **"Do you see them down there? The organics native to this world."**

Louise came over and looked down the cliff with a nod.

"**The organics of this world are needlessly violent, destroying their own world long before their planet was designated to receive Ichor. All species are violent to an extent, but their split of ideals and beliefs would, and will, destroy them in time. Despite this they frantically fight, believing that each is in the right. I assume you have seen similar things in your own world?"**

Louise nodded. "Yeah, a war between two neighbouring countries ended only a few years ago, and fights between houses are normal. Why?"

"**Our lord requests to speak to you personally on matters relating to your species. Will you accompany this one to speak to the Overlord?"**

Louise was greatly surprised at this turn of events. "Your leader wants to speak to me?"

"**Yes. He requests to speak to you personally, which requires your presence. Would you allow this one to bring you to meet our lord?"**

"Um, where is he then?"

"**The overlord resides at the Ichor hub, it is not on this world and will require us to travel there. Your safety is guaranteed under all situation and circumstance."**

Louise looked at the creature for many seconds before deciding. "Alright, it wouldn't be right to refuse a king's summons I guess."

"**I thank you for your assistance this matter, Organic Lu'eez."**

Louise grimaced at the mispronunciation of her name. "Um, it's Louise, actually."

Saw'veleesh stood there before bobbing slightly. **"I see, forgive this one. Stay still a moment."**

"Wh-" Louise was interrupted by a small flash all around her. When she opened her eyes she was standing a strange purple surface, purple globs of light bobbing and dancing all around illuminating their surroundings. Surrounding her at a great distance were what looked to be three object that spiraled up and connected directly above her. As she looked around another small flash happened and the creature Saw'veleesh appeared before her. "What just happened?"

"**I blinked us to the nearest threshold that we may go to meet the lord."**

"Blinked? And what's a threshold?"

"**Be still!"** Saw'veleesh suddenly said as the bobbing balls of purple light began surrounding them and spinning quickly.

"What? Why?"

"**Threshold is not complete, and as such the transportation will not work if either of us move, be still while the transport is done."**

Obeying, Louise stayed perfectly still as the globes of light began circling them rapidly, creating a ring of light that had no breaks in it. The ring began enlarging and then, as Louise could no longer see past it, lit up like a ball of fire blinding her completely.

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Louise opened her eyes to find herself in a circular room made entirely of a strange purple element. Whatever it was made of it had small pulses of energy running across it in pattern, and the more she looked around the more confused she became, where was she?

"**We have arrived."**

Louise turned to see the creature Saw'veleesh standing beside her. When did he get there? Louis watched as it walked over to a section of wall and tapped it with its foot. The wall opened up revealing a large balcony.

"**The Overlord will be here in a few moments. Would you care for a look of our world?"**

Louise answered by walking onto the balcony, and was shocked by the scene before her. Everywhere she looked great silver and purple buildings and spires could be seen, and vibrant green crystal grew all around, on the ground and on the buildings. The sky was deep black and thousands of stars and constellations she did not recognize could be seen and on every horizon she looked there were massive triple legged spires in the distance. "Amazing, where are we?"

"**We are at the home of all of our kind, where our leaders give out orders. Welcome to the Ichor hub!"**

"Ichor hub? What are all those towers in the distance, they look huge!"

"**Those are Thresholds, like the one we blinked under and used to arrive here."**

"Arrive. Then we're on another world?"

"**In a sense, yes. The overlord will arrive to speak to you momentarily, please wait here." **Saw'veleesh said as he walked off and then disappeared in a flash of light.

Louise turned back to the balcony and looked out. Below her she could barely make out the ground and the horizon seemed so much farther away. She was on a different world. She knew it had been discussed by some nobles before, the idea of different worlds, but the large majority of peoples of Halkeginia just dismissed it at heresy, as did the church. She had now been to two separate and different worlds in less than a day, and no one would believe her. Not that she cared at this point, after all she had only a few hours before attempted to commit suicide. Everyone around her had made her life a miserable one, laughing at her inadequacy or berating her for it. Only her sister, Cattleya, ever spoke nicely to her, and those times were few and far between due to her sister's weak body and sickness.

Louise sighed and turned around, leaning her body against the balcony's thick railing. She had never even heard of a world like this, and she had never even seen a creature like Saw'veleesh before. Just what did their leader look like?

As if answering her question a glowing object appeared in the center of the room, quickly forming a strange shape she would only be able to describe as a brain with tendrils coming off of its bottom. Louise stepped into the room and stood before the odd glowing see-through shape. Only when she heard the door to the balcony close did the brain glow even brighter, and pulsed as a voice was heard all around her.

"**Greetings, carbon organic of sectors 21's third planet. I am pleased that you decided to join me in this meeting of minds."** The voice said in a low deep tone.

Louise looked at the glowing brain with an obviously stunned look on her face. " You're the leader that wished to speak to me?"

"**Correct. I am Lord of the Scrin, the Overlord. May I ask what you are called?"**

"My name is Louise de la Vallière, third child of the Vallière family of Tristania." Louise replied, as she attempted to hold up an at least semi noble tone of speech. "May I ask why you requested to speak to me?"

"**Indeed. However, I would like to know how you came to be on the third planet of the Sol system in Sector 13 first."**

Louise looked to her side as if avoiding the Overlords non-existent gaze. "I jumped out of the window of my home in a weak attempt to kill myself. There was a flash and then I found myself there."

"**Excellent! My suspicions about your people and you prove to be true. May I ask why you attempted to end your already short organic lifespan?"**

". . . . . . I suppose it was that I didn't fit in. No matter how hard I tried I could not do any kind of magic, despite my family being a high ranked family known for our strong magic. With the mockery I received from my classmates and the berating I received from my family and teachers, it just became too much to take."

"**Did you not think your family would miss your presence**?" The overlord asked with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"They don't care about me; they only care about keeping the family name in good standing!" Louise yelled as a small tear slid down her cheek.

The overlord was quite for many seconds before again speaking. **"I highly doubt that the one that bore you would hold no feelings for you. If it would turn out to indeed be true however you have my . . . . sympathy. Especially since it would not bode well for your species continued existence."**

Louise wiped her eyes and looked up. "What do you mean our existence?"

"**It has been decided that within the next cycle your planet is to be seeded."**

"What does that mean?"

"**The planet you just came from had been seeded almost six demacycles ago. Within that time, its inhabitants fell to infighting as well as the Ichors influence. It is expected their species will be extinct within a cycle. They likely realize this, but continue to fight amongst themselves regardless."**

". . . So their planet was . . . seeded, by this ichor stuff and it's going to kill them all and you know this?"

"**Yes."**

"Why! Why would you destroy an entire species?"

"**To continue on ourselves."**

"What?"

"**We, the Scrin cannot live without ichor, it is our blood and are body, our metal and our weapon. We seed far off planets, letting the ichor grow and consume the planet, and then we harvest the ichor, and terraform the planet to allow our people to continue to prosper. Sometimes we find a species that has become one with the ichor, similar to ourselves, and they are welcomed into our society with open arms."**

"But you're killing species!"

"**If we do not do this, we ourselves would die. Would you ask me to willingly destroy our own species!" **the Overlord roared causing the entire building to shake**. "Many species join us and we welcome them. The other we leave to decide what they will do. We only kill when necessary, which sadly happens often as organic being cannot help but succumb to violence, even a little!"**

"I -, your telling me you're going to do the same to my planet?"

"**Yes, it is to be seeded within the next cycle. However…"**

Louise's attention perked up. "However, what?"

"**The reason why I asked you here is to speak of the future of your planet. When ichor is seeded to a planet and left to its own, the effects are always different and impossible to guess. But if they were overseen then the negative effects would be mitigated and pushed out, and the positive ones brought out."**

"What does that have to do with-."

"**In our species, there is a hierarchy among our force that harvest and conquer. Foremen simply harvest and finish off resistance while supervisors watch over them and engage in direct extermination. However, there is more than just one group of our people. We have a few different sects that have varying specializations. The lords of these sects are often originally from another species, and often take their own home planet as a base of operation so they may watch over their people who have embraced the Ichors gifts."**

"But that doesn't-"

"**I have been watching your species with great interest and I believe your own species could be assimilated into the Scrin with little difficulty if they were watched over."**

Louise's mouth hung open as the realization of hat the overlord was saying sunk in. "You want me...to-?

"**Yes. I give you three choices. You may join us and attempt to become a Sectlord. If you did, you would gain immeasurable power and would be in command of your planet's fate. The second option is you refuse and I return you to your world with the knowledge I have given you."**

"And the third?"

"**I return you to your world after altering your memory, erasing all trace of our conversations. Everything will seem to you just a bad nightmare."**

Louise held her hand to her chin as she thought to herself. "So I can either return with no memory, and go back to my life of despair. Return with this knowledge and be branded insane. Or I can join you and attempt to become some kind of general and gain control over my entire planet and its people?"

"**Yes, you could save who you wish to, kill those you wish to. And choose if you're species or any others on your planet, are worthy to join us."**

" . . . . Why my species? Why me?"

"**The species of your planet have the strange but useful capability of controlling particle matter in the air and the environment around you, allowing the control of base elements."**

"Our magic!"

"**So that's what you call it? Odd. Yes. Controlling the elements is normal for almost every sentient species on your planet, but a few of you are different. A few rare ones on your world can control atomic and even subatomic particle matter, allowing creation of portals, enhanced speed and even small scale particle collapses, resulting in localized explosions.**

Louise gasped in realization. "Void magic! I- I use void magic!"

"**Indeed. The choices I present to you remain the same. Forget. Return. Or join. If you join us you could save those you care about immediately as well I will add."**

"The only one I care about is my sister, she's the only one that ever cared for me!" Louise said causing new fresh tears to flow out of her eyes.

"**Do you wish to have some time to decide or-"**

"No, no I've decided. If I return with no knowledge, nothing changes. If I return and tell anyone I have void magic, I'll never be believed and nothing will change, or I'll end up being used as a tool. I hate everyone but my sister, but that doesn't mean I would want those I don't know to die, and If I can save my sister I will. I'll join you, and I'll choose how my planet is changed."

"**Very well then. We shall see if you are capable of becoming a Sectlord. If you fail however, the outcome will not change. Are you prepared for that?"**

"Yes, I just won't fail!"

"**Very well, I suggest you prepare yourself, this often stings." **the overlord said as a glowing ball of light appeared in front of him and shot toward Louise, striking her chest and going into her body, knocking her out instantly. **"Welcome to the Scrin, potential Sect Lord Lu'eez."**


	2. Awakening

Louise floated up to consciousness and tried to figure out what had happened. She could feel herself laying on a cold flat surface, likely metal from the feel of it, and her entire body ached. She opened her eyes and saw above her a massive vaulted domed ceiling, glimmering a brilliant deep purple. The color of the ceiling made all her memories come back in a flash and she bolted upright immediately, or she would have but her body did not want to respond, causing her to only twitch slightly.

"So you wake then?" came a light, slightly screechy but almost seductive voice of a woman from behind her.

Louise turned her head to the side, cringing at her screaming muscles, and finally found the owner of the voice. Before her was a creature unlike any she had seen before, with eight long legs supporting a humanoid form, similar to that of a woman's. Her arms had two elbows in them, with long, spiky three pronged ends that likely acted as hands. Her head was sleek and had no visible eyes, nostrils, or a mouth upon it.

"Something wrong, dear?" the creature questioned, its head pulsing with feint blue lines as it spoke.

"Er, uh. No, I just. You are?"

"I'm sorry, the overlord didn't exactly give you in depth overviews of the finer details did he?"

"Um, no. I, ow, my head."

"That's normal, your . . . . headache? Will subside soon I think. It is just your mind resorting and arranging the new information you have been given.

"Information? Wha- ow!"

"Yes. You do recall, don't you?"

"I took the overlords offer, and then he shot a glowing ball in me and- . . . what happened after that?"

"That ball of light was a concentrated ball of both knowledge spanning thousands of years, and of DNA altering ichor Hypercondences."

"So it was information and a DNA altering energy to do as we had-. . . . . . . . wait, how do I understand this , . . . . miss?"

"Oh, forgive me. I neglected to introduce myself. My name is Shil'ka Sectlord of Traveler-59; it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance potential Sectlord Lu'eez."

"Potential, right. I remember everything now. So you're the Sectlord, of Traveler?"

"Indeed I am, and have been since my people joined the Scrin. It has been far too long since there was new potential to add to the cause."

"I, er, thank you," Louise said. "Do you know why can't I move?"

"The ichor hypercondences are still positioning themselves through your body, and the augmentation is beginning. The hypercondences are disabling your movement to make it safer. You should be able to move in a few moments now that you're awake. Are you not wondering why I am here?"

"Yeah, I guess I am."

"The overlord is quite busy so after you were infused by the ichor you were brought here."

"Where is here exactly?"

"We're on the Sectlord level of the ichor hubs central spire."

"There is an entire level just for Sectlord's?"

"Oh it's not that major. It's just for the primary combat Sectlord's, and there's only about a half dozen of us, not counting yourself.

"Just six!"

"Yes, the rest deal with terraforming, research and the like.

"What is your speciality then?"

"Traveler focuses on speed tactics and local species subjugation. My sect has had only one recorded failure, over 3 dexacycles ago."

"Three, dexa, cycle. . . . That is. . . . . .over thirty thousand years!"

"Yes. Quite a bit of time really."

"So you're at least that old?"

"Exactly as old as my sect exactly. So almost 4 dexacycles."

"That's, really old!"

"Not really, considering that the Scrin's presence in the universe and its history go pack over a thousand dexacycles.

Louise looked at Shil'ka in shock. "Th- that long?"

"Yes, my own original species only had a history of a few thousand years before joining the Scrin. Probably similar to your own, am I right?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"I figured as much. Can you stand now?"

Louise tilted her head and then slowly, but surely pulled herself up to a sitting position and then stood up, wobbling as she did. "Barely, I feel queasy."

"That's normal. It helps to get up and walk around, and I was intending to show you around the Hub and explain our culture to you, if you're up for it?"

Louise looked at Shil'ka and only then realized that even with her massive multi legged body she was only half again as tall as the average woman in Halkeginia, making Louise grimace at their height difference. "What do you mean? I thought the overlord gave me all the knowledge I would need. Isn't that why I have a splitting headache still."

"Yes. But the information that has been given to you is primarily basic and advanced scientific knowledge and military. The cultural knowledge is left out initially as a lesser being's head would literally explode from so much information being forced in."

Louise glared at Shil'ka. "So that's what I am, huh? A lesser being?"

"No, that's what you WERE. You stopped being a lesser being when you accepted the overlord's proposal. You are a Scrin Sectlord. Potentially."

"I don't feel any different, besides my headache that is."

"It takes a while for the Hypercondences to spread through your system. Once they do, they will slowly and safely alter your body's construction. But we can talk of that later, would you not like to see the Hub?"

Louise looked to Shil'ka and nodded.

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After what seemed like an eternity of going down circular ramp ways, Louise, riding on Shil'ka's back at her request, came to a massive doorway and stepped through it and into the Ichor hub.

Around the Central core was a massive circular courtyard with sections of vibrant green ichor crystal everywhere. Beyond the courtyard Louise could see massive buildings of every shape and size, some that even looked impossible in their construction. The ground beneath the crystal looked exactly like dirt while everything else she saw looked like it was made of deep purple, blue, or black metals. And above, a blanket of night sky covered all, more vibrant and beautiful than she could imagine. There was no moon, but there did not need to be.

"I've never seen so many stars!" Louise whispered.

Shil'ka turned her head to look back at Louise who was still sitting comfortably on her back. "Yes, it is quite beautiful, isn't it? My own home planet has its beauty as well, but something is just undeniably beautiful about a sky without an atmosphere in the way of the stars."

"Yeah I. . . . What?"

"Oh right, you wouldn't know. The ichor hub is not a planet but an artificial construction, and as such has only minimal atmosphere. Don't worry though, you're not in danger."

"Oh, good. . . It took me a second to realize what atmosphere was, and why I needed it."

"It's both the perk and the curse of being given information cycles ahead of your species' knowledge base, I went through it too so I know how you feel." Shil'ka stated as she walked through the courtyard and down a 'street'.

"Um"

"Yes?"

"I have a question."

"Then I'll do my best to answer it, ask away!"

"Both the prodigy I came here with and the overlord had odd voices that seemed to echo and come from all directions at once. Why doesn't yours?"

"That wasn't their voices. It was their minds speaking directly to yours."

"So, telepathy then. Why?"

"They knew that you would be unable to understand our language as you were, so spoke to your mind directly with their meanings. Slightly difficult if you don't use it often but most Scrin can do it. You should be able to as well."

"I see. So your voice doesn't sound that way because with the knowledge I now have I understand your language flawlessly."

"Yes. Your language is similar to others we have encountered so we understood it already."

"I see. That makes sense." Louise commented as she looked around and could see all matter of both humanoid and insectoid beings walking down the streets, talking to each other, and what even looked like some smaller ones playing. "So Scrin have kids as well then."

"Of course. Our people have jobs, must eat and have families like most other species. Our peoples have a greater lifespan than most sentient species as well, but nothing is eternal. Except us, that is."

"What do you mean?"

"Only the overlord's army have the curse and the gift of eternally serving our people. The common person must earn their lives, education, jobs, families and everything else. Only the overlord, us Sectlord's, our secondary's, Supervisors and foremen live as long as our life permits. Because our job is so important to the continuation of our species we live endlessly, unless we fail and are killed."

"Immortality to serve the people with, that kind of sounds nice in a way."

"It is, but it is also very hard as well. We can still have families and the like, but will always outlive them."

"I see. What do normal people think of the Sectlords?" Louise asked as she looked around and saw almost every second person bow, or greet them in some way or another.

"It's . . . complicated. Most of the Scrin show us great respect, after all without our work our entire society would collapse. But there are some that look down on us, being un-aging. They believe everyone should be given the gift, or curse as some think of it."

"Why would they think that?"

"Since the event of a Sectlord actually falling rarely happens some think we are un-killable, which is untrue. They think that if everyone was given the gift then more people could join our military."

"You mean they can't?"

Shil'ka looked over her shoulder to Louise. "Knowledge still sorting?"

"Yeah, I don't quite have the grasp on the military stuff yet, though if you want to ask me a question on particle physics I think I could handle it!" Louise exclaimed with a slight grin.

"I'll pass. Our military is mostly comprised of bio mechanical drones that are unable to disobey commands. There are only a few classes of units that are actually sentient people. Leaders like us and the supervisors. And our most skilled ground commandos, like the prodigy that brought you here."

"No other soldier is actually sentient?"

"Perhaps sentient was the wrong word, but basically. Even our most power constructs are drones, the only ones that are not are creatures from my home world that we call a Hexapod."

"It's intelligent then?"

"If by intelligent you mean a native beast that when augmented becomes a near unstoppable beast of destruction that has a habit of eating corpses, then yes."

"Oh, so beast of destruction, gotcha. How would a normal person join the military anyway? Do they try to become prodigies or something?"

"No not quit, most join to become foreman, most commandoes are picked from those lots as well."

"I see. Must be tough."

"To an extent. Shall we head back to the hub?"

"Why. Isn't there more to see?"

"Other than more residential zones and the wall of thresholds that circle the Hub, not really. Unless you want to see the zones that create most of our drones and sends them out to our foremen and supervisors."

"Er, maybe another time."

"That's what I thought. Beside you'll need to rest your mind."

"Why?"

"The hypercondenses should have positioned around your body and begun changing you. But your mind will change little except for its build. Become of this, you will still need to rest your mind, as all creatures must."

". . . Wait, how long has it been then?"

"Going by your home world's counting of time . . . . About two days, almost three, I would guess."

"Oh."

"Time flies by quickly here on the hub. Without a star to orbit it makes having any way to calculate time more difficult than on a planet."

"I guess it would be. I guess I should ask this now then. Do Sectlord's have quarters or anything like that?"

"Yes, we have personal quarters for when on the hub. And yes you do as well, though they will be smaller than an actual Sectlord's quarters. For obvious reasons."

"Yes I'm small. I know that!" Louise growled.

Shil'ka looked at Louise and tilted her head. "What? No, your quarters are smaller because you're a potential Sectlord, not a full one."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Though I can only hope the quarters work for you."

"What do you mean?"

"I do not know how yours have been set up, so I cannot say if they will suit you or not."

"We'll see then I guess, huh."

"Yep, I'll show you to where your room should be when we get back to the hub."

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Louise groaned as she walked down the halls of the Central tower. Shil'ka had told her that her room had been marked by a symbol she would be familiar with, which would have been fine. The only problem was that there were an insane number of rooms around her, and her mind had begun recognizing Scrin characters, forcing her to read every doorway she came to.

She was about to scream in frustration when she came to a door that was not quite right. The door had an actual sliding handle, instead of the clasps like the others had, and above it instead of a Scrin or Halkeginian character was the symbol of a pentagram.

"Of all the symbols to use." Louise muttered as she slid the door open and stepped in, closing the door behind her. As the door slid shut a single red crystal of ichor in the ceiling lit up and illuminated the room. It was about the same size as the rooms at the Tristanian Magic Academy but instead of a bed, desk and cabinet, there was a long table to one side beside a window and in the corner was what looked like a large net. She walked over to the net, as it was the only thing that even close to resembled a bed, and sat on its edge. It was made of some kind of soft cabling, and was very springy. No longer caring what it looked like, and now feeling the ache of her mind from the headaches and from being awake for almost three days straight, Louise threw herself onto the center of the net, and fell into blissful slumber.

**Authors note: okay so second chapter out. I hope everything is fine considering how much I looked it over but if a part of the Scrin culture that I have shown here does not make sense please say so and I shall attempt to explain better in a future chapter or authors note. Other than that I hope you enjoy!**


	3. Pride

Louis opened her eyes and looked up at the dimly glowing purple crystal of ichor in the ceiling.

Purple.

Purple.

Wasn't it red before? Louise thought as she pulled herself off of the bet of netting and looked around. The room was exactly as she had left it, including the deep half-light coming in from the window and the blinking bulge on the. . . . Wait, what!

Louise walked over to the long table on the wall where a section of the table itself was bulging up and had a small blinking light upon its top. Cautiously poking the bulge pushed it back into the table and a hologram of Scrin characters appeared above the table.

"So it's a message then," Louise said as she looked it over. "Meet, main hall, trailing. Trailing? . . . Oh, training. I wonder in what." Louise mused as she slid the door open and walked into the central tower's halls.

Two hours later Louise finally opened the huge double doors leading into the massive domed room she had awoken in before and let out an exasperated scream. "This place has too many empty halls!"

"You'll get used to it," Shil'ka said without turning around. She seemed preoccupied swinging around what looked like an overly large axe.

Louise walked in, closed the door, and walked over to Shil'ka. "So I'm assuming there's a reason why I'm here? "

Shil'ka stopped and turned to Louise. "I'm surprised you didn't ask about this!" She exclaimed as she threw the axe over her shoulder. "Yes, your mind should have parsed all the information you have so it's time we began training you in combat."

"Combat tactics right?"

"That comes later. I'm talking about personal combat tactics."

"Why? I though Sectlord's command their forces from afar?"

"We do. But knowing how to fight and defend yourself is always a good thing to know, as is how to adapt to any situation."

Louise felt a trickle of sweat slide down the back of her neck. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"That depends, how much training did you have in combat from your world?"

"Very basic swordplay and I wasn't very good at it either." Louise admitted.

"Then let's find out what you are good at!"

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"Sectlord Kevris, sir?" asked a mastermind from the doorway of a pitch-black room.

"What!" replied a booming loud and angry voice from the darkness.

"I- um. I have retrieved the data you asked for on the potential Sectlord named Lu'eez."

"Then let us see how she fairs in training with that Bug Shil'ka!"

"Y-yes sir." The mastermind replied as it slid a small thin crystal into the wall beside it. Within a second a large screen appeared in the darkness, barely illuminating a massive form before it.

"She seems. . . . . . Small."

"Yes sir. The, um, smallest Sectlord in history."

"Potential Sectlord. Do not forget she must prove herself!"

"O- of course sir."

"Hmm. Her weapon skills seem useless. This is the first time I've seen someone actually cut themselves with their own weapon!"

"Sir?"

"She can't even wield a pole based weapon either. Is this current?"

"Err, yes sir, it's a direct connection to the training dome. We're seeing the vibration images in real time, Sir."

Kevris looked at the screen from the dark of the room and almost growled in displeasure. "If this is what a potential Sectlord is like then I fear for our future. She barely is able to dodge, let alone strike at Shil'ka!"

"Perhaps she just needs time, sir?"

"No. Time is meaningless. The problem is with Shil'ka. She is training her too calmly. She is not giving her the challenge she needs to let the ichor flow through her system efficiently. She's trying to not hurt her. She's going too easy on her!"

"She's newly inducted sir, and her Hypercondences have yet to alter her body, you can't expect her to-"

"What is expected is that she learn, not that she play! Regardless of her physical form she needs the challenge that only the possibility of death can bring." Kevris roared as the sound of him moving permeated the room causing the mastermind to reel in terror. "And I'll give it to her!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Rested up?" Shil'ka asked as she stood up and grabbed a new weapon from the wall.

Louise nodded and got up as well. "This is tough."

"Well yes, but endurance is a very important aspect to fighting. If you tire before your opponent then you likely will die, which is less than desired."

"Yeah I don't want to-."

Crash!

Louise and Shil'ka turned to the dome's door to see a massive creature walk into the dome. While Shil'ka was slightly taller than an average human, this creature was gigantic, easily as large as the largest golems, almost four stories tall. The creature stepped forward on five large pointed legs that supported massive body with two equally large fingerless arms.

"What the hell do you want, Kevris!" Shil'ka yelled at him.

Kevris' body pulsed with blue light as he spoke. "I am here to do what you obviously cannot."

"And what is that?"

"Training a potential Sectlord. You are not giving her enough of a challenge. It weakens her potential and only is useful for making yourself feel important."

"I could say the same of you, breaking in here and saying such things. I was asked to teach her, not you."

"Do I care?" Kevris questioned as he turned his body to Louise. "I am Reaper-17's Sectlord, Kevris. Unlike Shil'ka here, I do not care for your continued existence should you fail your training. I suggest you ready yourself!"

Before Louise could speak one of Kevris' massive feet struck the ground before her, sending her flying backwards into the nearby wall.

"Enough, Kevris! " Shil'ka screamed as she stood her ground.

Kevris merely glanced at her. "You know you cannot defeat me, Shil'ka. Get in my way and I shall not hesitate to kill you!"

"You kill me and Traveler will fall to disarray. You know what would happen then! We're already low on Sectlord's as it is! Why must you attempt to kill another!"

"Because they are unworthy. If a Sectlord cannot even stand up to my might for a moment of time then they will never be able to serve our people effectively." Kevris said as his body turned to the wall were Louise was getting up from the ground. "Not bad, potential Sectlord. Let us see how long you can last!"

Louise looked to see Kevris' massive body lurching forward toward her. He had already made his intentions quite clear, and she had little hope of defeating him in the state she was in. But if she could just find a way to-.

"Prepare to die!"

Louise rolled forward on instinct and heard a large crash from where she had just been standing. Looking up, she found herself directly under Kevris, his massive legs on all sides of her. A bad place to be.

Louise ran out from under him and almost instantly he turned his massive body and followed her, each single step of his equal to almost twenty of hers.

"**Lu'eez! Use his size to your advantage or you will die!"**

Louise shook her head as Shil'ka's voice filled her head as she ran. "Easier said than done!"

"**I can only speak to you, if I engage him I will die, you must find a way to prove you are capable. Think of something!"**

EASIER SAID THAN DONE! Louise thought angrily as she changed the direction she was running causing Kevris to slow down to change his direction.

Kevris stopped suddenly and turned away from Louise and Shil'ka and walked to the door. "You pass, for now," and with that Kevris was gone.

Louise dropped to her knees with a sigh of relief. "What the hell was that about!"

"It's just how he is. Why don't you head back to your quarters and rest? You've earned it." Shil'ka said calmly.

Louise didn't say a word but did exactly that and left the domed arena. Leaving Shil'ka alone.

"I wish you would not do this, Kevris!"

"I do what I want!" came Kevris' booming voice as he thundered back into the arena and stood before Shil'ka.

"And what would you have done if you had actually killed her, huh? How many potential Sectlord's must you kill before you are satisfied?"

"As many as it takes to prove they can deal with the requirements. She seems good though. She understood the danger I presented to her in all possibilities. She just may be able to become one of us!"

"That is not for you to decide, Kevris!"

Kevris raised his massive arms and crossed them across his headless torso. "No, it is the overlords. But while you may have been asked to watch her, others have also. And to decline another Sectlord's help in such a situation would look. . . . unacceptable to others."

"What are you getting at!?"

"The two of you WILL accompany me to the tenth planetoid of Sector 31 in 3 of her planet's days."

"Why?"

"Because I told you to, that's why!" Kevris roared as he turned and left the arena once more, leaving Shil'ka all alone in the dome's weak purple light.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tristania, southern forest, midnight.

"Make sure to write down the characters and markings as precisely as possible! We don't want to have them messed up! "Lady Montmorency called to the people in the pit of ruined buildings below her.

"What do you think of this ruin anyway, Milady?" A servant asked as she came up beside Lady Montmorency and handed her a new quill.

"Don't quote me, but I think that these ruins may predate the entire Brimiric faith, and just may be elven made!"

"Pardon my caution milady, but if anyone from the church heard you say such a thing in such a happy voice they might declare you a heretic."

"True. But the simple truth of these ruins may be just that. If it can be proved, it would explain much!"

"It would also be considered heretical as it would question the founder."

"Yes. But in truth the ruin is only my second focus."

"The first being?"

"The ruins talk about something it calls a Nightscreamer."

"Nightscreamer?"

"Yes. The glyphs on the ruins tell of a prophecy about a creature called this."

"How does it go, if I may ask, milady?"

"From what I have decrypted it tells of a time where the Nightscreamer descended from the deep black and rained terror upon the world. It spat black masses of death that tore the sky's asunder and broke the land into pieces. For three nights it came, each time returning to the deep black as the dawn broke. And for these three nights it ravaged the land, before dying above and crashing into the earth below."

"It just died?"

"That's what the legend seems to say. I'm still having difficulty figuring what it means by the deep black, but I'm assuming it is talking about the ocean."

"If the creature just died why isn't anything known about it if it was as big as stated?"

"That's what I'm wondering. The signs and glyphs on the unencrypted sections of the ruins almost look like a map. If I can discern its true meaning then I may be able to find out if the creature's corpse still exists! And if it does, I'll find it!"

"And what then, milady?"

"If such a creature existed and caused the elves so much trouble, even a corpse could provide us with clues to defeat them once and for all. It's corpse could provide us with so much knowledge. Knowledge that could be used to advance Tristania. We could become a powerful nation again, instead of one that has to appease other just to stay alive!"

"Of course, milady!"


	4. Discoveries

Kevris walked into the training dome and looked around to find only Shil'ka in the room. "Where is she?"

Shil'ka turned to Kevris as she spoke. "I'm not sure, I sent the message to her quarters."

"So she chooses to ignore my demand then!"

"She could be asleep still!"

"And laziness is better?

"I did not say that."

"…"

"Huh, I'll be back shortly. I'll go get her and bring her here." Shil'ka said as she walked toward the door.

"You better!" Kevris growled as Shil'ka left him in the training dome. By the time Shil'ka had gotten to the room Louise was using, her anger at having her message ignored had reached a fever pitch, and she was seriously considering dragging the potential Sectlord to the dome even if she was still asleep.

Knock knock knock!

"Lu'eez! Open this door! You were supposed to meet me in the training room already!"

"elp - , please!" Shil'ka heard from inside Louise's room.

"What?" Shil'ka asked.

"Help me!" Louise screamed at the top of her lungs allowing Shil'ka to hear what was said through the thick metal door.

Shil'ka forced the door open and stuck her head through to look inside the room. The room was bare except for the desk with a message bulge in it, and the sleep netting on the back corner. Louise sat in front of the netting with her hands in the top of her head, holding her hair with a pained look on her face. "What are you doing?"

Louise looked up and instantly looked relived. "Oh thank God, I need your help. My hair is knotted in the netting and I can't seem to get it unstuck!"

Shil'ka looked at Louise and her hair. Her hair was bright pink, and there was not a hint of pink in the netting anywhere that she could see. "Um, no, it's not."

"Then what is stuck in the netting! Because something is stuck in the netting and it's connected to the back of my head and if I move at all it pulls and hurts like heck!"

Shil'ka sighed as she forced her body through the small door and into Louise's room. "Fine, let me check."

"Please do," Louise said, obviously upset at herself for being seen in such a situation.

"I feel bad for you, having hair must be a bother." Shil'ka as she slowly ran her three pronged hands though the pink hair, trying to find what was caught.

"Why do you say that?"

"It just seems that hair would be useless as it would just get in the way. What is it for anyway?"

Louise tilted her head slightly and placed her hands together as she thought about the question. "I'm not really sure. It might have been for self-heating at some point, now it's just for looks I think."

"I see. Ah."

"What? What is it?"

"It's what is stuck, give me a second to get you loose and I'll show you."

"So there is something- ow quit pulling my hair!"

"I'm not pulling your hair, I'm pulling what's stuck."

"Then why does it feel like my hair is being pulled!"

"Because what's stuck is coming out of your head, it's just not hair."

"What! Then what is it?"

"As I said, hold still and once I get you unstuck I can show you!"

". . . . . . . Fine, just hurry up please."

"Don't worry, I just about have it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . there, you're free." Shil'ka said as she backed up from Louise and allowed her to stand up. "Feel the back of your head; you'll feel what was stuck immediately."

Louise, obvious unsure, placed her hands on her forehead and slowly slid them backwards. Right at the top back of her head her hands hit what felt to be some kind of strange cord. She traced her hands down the two cords and pulled them in front of her. The cords were a deep black with purple lines through them like veins, and at their ends were pairs of blade shaped prongs that came out on either side of a small glowing purple bulge that looked as glass. As Louise ran her hands along the cord, she could feel every touch upon them, as if they were always a part of her body. "These- these are connected. I feel my fingers on them."

"I figured as much. It seems that the Hypercondences have made their way deep into your DNA and finally begun altering it."

"Okay, but what the hell are these?" Louise said as she shook her hands causing the cords from her head to shake as well.

Shil'ka looked at the cords for many moments before shrugging. "I'm not entirely sure honestly. They look similar to a tripods proton cannon tendril, but the obvious differences are its size, and the lack of energy signature."

"Huh?"

"Proton beam tendrils are the primary weapons of tripods. Because of the power they generate and need they have a large energy signature, but yours seem to have none. Can you move them perhaps?"

"Well, yeah," Louise said as she shook the cords in her hands.

"I meant without using your hands. Try to move them by thinking about it; they are a part of your body after all."

"Alright . . . . . . . . . . . . did they move?"

"No, but they hang out of your hair completely. If I had to guess it would be that the proton beam tendrils have yet to connect to your nervous system completely, in time they should and you will be able to control them."

" . . . . . I – I see."

"Well, since that is now settled, let's get going!" Shil'ka said as she turned around and slowly forced her way through the small doorway.

"Go where?"

"Why to, oh right you didn't read the message I sent. We've been . . . requested to accompany Kevris on an . . . . . excursion of his."

"huh? You mean the big Sectlord from before? The one who tried to crush me under his weight?

"Yes, him. Kevris is the Sectlord of Reaper-17, in case you forgot. Reaper-17 is one of the oldest Sects of all the Scrin, and the oldest Combat Sect. Kevris has watched the Scrin for almost as long as the overlord himself, though their ideals are light cycles apart."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that despite his obscenely violated personality and his Sects insane almost cult like worship of ichor mutation, he is not the kind of Sectlord you say no to!"

"Um, okay. Where is this excursion to?"

"The tenth planetoid of sector Thirty one."

"Which is?"

"The tenth planetoid of Sector Thirty one, as I said already."

"No I mean what kind of planet is it and why are we going there?"

"Ah right. I don't know why he wants us there with him and I don't know much about the planetoid itself other than its currently being manually seeded and terraformed by Reaper."

"I see. Does the planetoid have local fauna or resistance then that would require us too- . . . . . . . holy crap I'm connecting the dots already!" Louise exclaimed in shock as she finally left her room and began following Shil'ka down the numerous hallways.

"Connecting the,.. dots?"

"Yeah, like realizing how things connect."

"Ah, so your understanding the Scrin thought process then."

"Yeah I guess so, I guess so." Louise said as she stared at her feet as she walked beside Shil'ka.

"Something wrong with that?"

"No, its just... Changing is kind of weird, and it feels like I'm losing as much as I'm gaining."

"That's basically what is happening. It happened for me as well. You lose little pieces of yourself as you gain the power that being a Sectlord provides. It's not all bad, though not perfect either."

"Eh I guess I'm just, nervous or having second thoughts is all."

"That's normal, so I wouldn't worry about it. Either way we need to hurry to the arena as Kevris is already fuming from you being late."

"It's not my fault, its these bloody cords fault!" Louise whined slightly as she grabbed at the cords on the back of her head.

"I'm pretty sure they're proton beam tendrils, just smaller. And they are part of you so it's still your fault!"

"Aww, that is so not fair! How can it be my fault when I didn't even know they were there! They could have grown around the netting for all I know!"

"Be that as it may, they're still a part of your body, and therefore it is your fault! It's not fair, but that is how it is."

"Grr. Fine, do you have something I can tie my hair with?" Louise suddenly asked as she began pulling her hair up around the tendrils.

"Why?"

"I'm going to put my hair into a ponytail so I can hide these cords."

"Oh I see. I don't see the point but . . . . Here!" Shil'ka said as she slid her three pronged hand along the wall causing a thread of metal to peel off into her hand before handing it to Louise.

Louise took the thread in her hand and rolled her fingers over it a few times. "Is this really a piece of the wall? It feels far too soft."

"I augmented its construction slightly for you, seeing as how you were whining about your hair I figured it would be a good idea to make it softer but still strong."

"Oh, thank you then," Louise said as she pulled her hair into a ponytail and tied the thread around it to keep it there. As she finished tying her hair the two of them entered into the arena, and promptly became deaf.

"Where in the Overlord's breath have you been?" Kevris roared in a rage causing Louise to throw her hands over her ears in an attempt to preserve their functionality.

"I was getting Louise as I told you I would; her hair had caught in the netting." Shil'ka said casually.

"A useless trifle, I suggest you get rid of it as fast as possible," Kevris said as he turned his body in Louise's direction before turning around away from both of them. "We leave now!"

"Then lets us head down to the threshold and-," Shil'ka began.

"No, we leave directly from here. I've already made the arrangements!" Kevris stated before a purple glow began filling the entire arena and a flash took them light-years away.

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Tristania, southern forest, midday.

"Be careful not to break anything, these ruins are worth more than what I'm paying you!" Lady Montmorency called out to the workers in the pit below her.

"The pit is quite well kept ,isn't it milady?" Lady Montmorency's servant stated as he came up beside her with a flask of water.

"Yes it is. The ruins are not meant to be buildings either, they're just made to look like buildings."

"What do you mean, milady?"

"The buildings are arranged far too erratically to have been a settlement, if I'm correct their positions mean something, most likely where to find a map to find the Nightscreamer's corpse, or it is the map."

"I see. What of the assembly? Many of the noble houses are demanding to know what you are doing out here, and the church is getting restless as well."

"I know, but I cannot say any more to them at this time. I can't risk my true intentions being found earlier than necessary."

"I understand, milady. I shall try my best to keep them at bay."

"Thank you," Lady Montmorency said as she looked down into the pit to see many of the workers gathering around two workers who hurriedly came up to the edge of the pit.

"Lady Montmorency, we've found this chest in the central most building!"

"Then let's take a look!" Lady Montmorency said as she kicked open the chest and took out what appeared to be an old, but well preserved animal hide with strange markings all over the one side. "This is just what we need, thank you, everyone take a break while I look over this."

"What is it, milady?"

Lady Montmorency smiled. "This is what we've been looking for."

"How so, milady?"

"If I hold up the map to the ruins, it matches them. If I attribute the various buildings to landmarks, and mountain ranges on the continent then,. . . yes, it shows us to a mark on the far side of the elven deserts."

"But, milady, no one has ever gone to the far side of the elven lands. We don't even know what is there."

"I know, and we'll be the first. We'll keep this between us for now. Until we've completely uncovered the ruins, just to make sure nothing has been missed."

"Of course, milady.I shall inform the workers."

"Please do." Lady Montmorency said as her servant walked away leaving her above the dig site alone. "Now everything falls into place. We won't need the Romalians consent or Germania's trade anymore. Soon they will be the ones crawling up to us and begging!"

**Authors notes: wheeeee, ah the second chapter took a bit but this one just flew by, and now we begin to see how Louise is changing. Hope you enjoyed!**


	5. The scenic route

Louise had been to many kinds of places in her life, forests, wastelands, mountains, plains, hill country, and even underground mines. Her father had wanted to make sure that all his daughters had knowledge of different environments to make sure they understood how they all affected the nation and how battles were fought in them. The one thing she hadn't seen however, were islands. The only island in Halkeginia was the floating island nation of Albion which could only be accessed by a flying ship or animal like a gryphon or dragon.

As such Louise was not exactly familiar with what islands were like. She knew what they were supposed to be like. She just hadn't been ready for being on one, or more specifically a Massive number of island the sizes of small buildings so close together that you could wade from island to island.

"This is ridiculous," Louise commented as she beat her skirt with her hands in an attempt to shake some of the water off of them. "How the hell did we end up at an unguarded threshold alone with Kevris nowhere to be seen!"

Shil'ka shrugged her shoulders as water dripped off her body. "I'm guessing that he set it up to do so. And all we have to do to get to the main base on this planetoid is to follow this island chain."

"That's part of the problem! How many of these bloody islands are there? I mean if it was just a couple islands it would be no big deal, but these islands are so tiny and close together there's barely any land, it's more like a massive receded sandbar than an island chain!"

". . . You're not too fond of water, are you, Lu'eez?" Shil'ka asked as they entered another area of shallows and began wading through it.

"I'm fine with water, bathing is a wonderful thing, but dealing with shallows is not. At least you're tall enough on those legs of yours to be mostly dry!"

"What do you –," Shil'ka stopped herself as she looked to her side to see everything below Louise's shoulders under the water, and Louise none to happy about how hard she had to push herself to keep pace in the shallows. "Perhaps you should climb onto my back when we get onto the next island."

"Yes, perhaps I should. . . . At least this next one looks big!" Louise commented as she pulled her arm out of the water and pointed ahead of them.

Ahead of them, about fifty meters was yet another island. But unlike the past two hundred some odd islands they had already crossed that were mostly sand, dirt, or if they were lucky a tree with sand and dirt, this one was significantly large, and had a massive rock outcropping on it, and even had grasses in between the occasional spike of ichor.

Shil'ka sighed. "Let's take a rest on this island then, even I could use one so I'm sure you need one."

"A rest from all this wading through sandy water yes, rest from exhaustion, not really. I'm holding up pretty good on that end, I'm just tire of wading through water."

Shil'ka nodded and within the minute she and Louise were on the beach sitting down on the cool grass letting the ocean air waft by them.

After a significantly pleasing rest Shil'ka and Louise climbed the island rock outcropping and once at the top became highly confused.

" . . . . . . There's no more islands." Louise commented casually as she looked out from the islands top."

Shil'ka nodded in response. "Which is odd considering the information I pulled from the threshold we came through said to follow the island chain to the mainland where the base is on this planet."

"Could it have been wrong?"

"No, it's not very likely. It is possible that Kevris altered the information though."

Hearing this made Louise obviously angry. "Dammit, first he tries to kill me and runs off, then he orders us here, and now he gets us lost! I swear I'm going to kill him!"

"I doubt that highly Lu'eez. He's far stronger than you and you are not at full strength yet, it would be a one way fight in his favor."

"Then I'll find a different way to make him pay for all this, I'll just have to think on it is all!"

"Well, think about it later. We must find a way to get to the main base."

"Couldn't we just take the threshold back?"

"We could, but that would mean having left Kevris here when he ordered us here for assistance. It would not look good if it was found out, and knowing Kevris he would make sure it was."

"So he'll blackmail us, dammit!" Louise screamed as she punched a rock in front of her, shattering it completely and leaving her hand unscathed. "At least I'm feeling much better now!"

"I'd say the Hypercondences are coming along nicely. Could you have done that before?"

"Done what?"

"Never mind. Either way we must find a way to proceed so let us climb down and survey the island."

Louise nodded.

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Louise glared down the deep dark cavern before them and sighed. "So, this is it?"

Shil'ka nodded. "Yes, if my calculations are correct it turns and goes under the sea, toward the mainland. It's likely that it connects to another cave system that should get us there."

"So we go from wading in shoulder deep water, to spelunking in unknown's caves that have sea water splashing into them, likely making them damp and slippery."

"That would seem correct. Shall we?"

"I suppose so, though the hazard of slipping worries me. This cavern looks like it goes pretty deep and it's pretty steep too." Louise said as she slowly followed Shil'ka carefully down into the caverns.

The caverns themselves mostly what Louise expected them to be, hard layers of shoreline stone that held on to any moisture that struck them, rendering the entire cave both slippery, and sickeningly moist. The more they descended the darker it got, and Louise was beginning to think they would have to turn back to acquire a light of some kind. But before she could say it she noticed a growing quantity of phosphorescent moss growing on the walls and ceiling of the cave, illuminating the moist walls in a fantastic spectacle of light and reflection. As the cavern's angle lessened and finally leveled out the cave became even more boring that it had already been, changing little as they followed the only path available to them. But the more they travelled along the cave, the more something seemed out of place. It was a feeling that only doubled as they found a massive bowl-like clearing in the cave with a small stream of water coming from a tunnel on the opposite side and filling a pool in the clearing's center.

"I don't like the looks of this place." Louise said as she glanced around at the almost domelike walls.

"Why?"

"The walls, they're to smooth. It looks like they were formed this way by something other than nature."

Shil'ka looked around and nodded. "Your right, they do. Let's not worry about it though, I think I see a crystal of ichor in that pool we should check it out."

"Because we haven't seen a single bit of ichor in this entire cave system?"

"Precisely. That and I could use some physical contact, this cave system having little ichor radiation is quite draining, as I'm sure you noticed."

"Yes I did, I am quite drained." Louise admitted as she followed Shil'ka toward the pool in the center of the clearing.

As they entered the clearing the water began to ripple outward from its center, stopping them in their tracks. Before either of them could react the massive dark orange form of a large creature emerged from the water before them. The creature was obviously some sort of local crustacean, with its six shelled legs and four massive shell covered claws it glared at them and screamed, causing the crystal of ichor atop its shell to glow vibrantly.

"Um, suggestions?" Louise asked as she slowly shifted her footing.

"It has ichor upon its shell. It likely is a creature local to this planet that has underwent mutation, it may be friendly though."

"You say that as if it's unlikely!"

"It is, so we should- ,"Shil'ka stopped as the creature let out a strange gurgle and charged toward them, its four claws open and ready to strike.

Louise and Shil'ka jumped to either side of the creature, causing it to run straight into the hard cavern wall with a thud. "I think it's safe to say it is not happy to see us, do we kill it?" Louise asked as the creature crawled back onto its legs and turned itself around to charge at them again.

"We'll have to, otherwise it will keep following us in all likelihood. " Shil'ka said as she looked at the creature and noticed its hard shell not even scratched from colliding with the wall. "It's shell seems rather tough though, so this may be difficult to do with just our capabilities."

"What do you mean?"

"Unlike Kevris' body that can naturally create plasma discs, I cannot create any sort of energy projectile. All I have are my own limbs and claws."

Louise frowned as she summersaulted over the crab creature's ram once more and almost barked at Shil'ka as it turned around. "Well that's just great; can't you just punch it or something?"

Shil'ka shook her head as she leapt into the air and struck her legs into the stone ceiling, stopping her from falling. "I am not physically strong enough to kill an armored creature of this size; speed is my asset, not strength."

"Then please explain how we're supposed to kill this thing? There is no way I can! And get down from there!" Louise screamed as the creature rushed her even faster than before, not giving her time to leap over it. Instead she dropped to her knees and leaned back, allowing the creatures bulk to soar over her creating a wind that caused her hair to fly all over, and causing her proton tendrils to flail about, striking the creatures underbelly. As Louise got up, the creature having successfully rammed its head to the cavern walls once again, she looked at the creature in shock for a few moments before grinning menacingly. "Never mind, I got this!"

Before Shil'ka could say a word, Louise rushed toward the creature as it turned around to charge again, but would not have the chance. as it began to turn around Louise got in close and punched at a spot in between two of its legs, and the creature fell to the ground lifeless, blood spilling from all of its leg joints on that side.

Shil'ka dropped from the ceiling and landed before Louise as she stretched her arms and spoke." How nice of you to come down."

Shil'ka looked at the dead creature's corpse in a quick analysis. It's entire body was covered in hard chitinous plating, even around its legs and arm joints, but now every joint on the one side had blood seeping from it as if its insides had melted. "How did you do that?"

Louise fell to one knee and began letting out heavy drawn out breaths. "I – I saw it. How it was built, how it had mutated when it contacted some ichor. The armour in between those legs was weak and it's heart was right beside it. By striking it I caused it's heart to rupture." Louise said as she forced herself to stand and looked at the creature in slight shock at what she had just done. "I had seen everything about it as if reading a book and killed it."

"You saw how it was built and saw a flaw in its structure then? How much did you see?"

"All of it, down to a genetic level. I saw everything the creature was and could have been naturally, all with a slight touch. My cords struck it when it went over me, and I saw everything about it in an instant."

". . . Then can you move them now?"

Louise did not even say a word as the cords lifted out of her ponytail and pointed toward the creature's corpse, letting out thin pink beams that quickly cut the corpse into pieces. "It seems so." Louise said with a smile.

Shil'ka looked at her for many moments before walking over and taking one of her cords in her hand. "This is odd."

"What is?"

"The beams your proton tendril released wasn't a proton beam, it was comprised of high density superheated polarons."

"That's . . . . . . . insanely useful." Louise stated calmly.

"I think you're missing the point of it being almost impossible. You could cut through ichor composites with little difficulty. Hell, you could cut through most things with little difficulty given a bit of time and energy."

"What do you mean ener-, oh boy." Louise stated as she suddenly collapse causing Shil'ka to pick her up and place her on her back to carry her out of the cavern.

"That's what I mean; using such a thing will drain you very fast."

"So I noticed." Louise said with a groan. "Let's just get out of this cave already!"


End file.
